The teaching of evolution in American high schools has long been a source of controversy. The past decade has seen an important shift in the rhetoric of anti-evolutionists, toward arguments of a strongly mathematical character. These mathematical arguments, while different in their specifics, follow the same general program and rely on the same…

Evolution continues to be a controversial topic around the world but nowhere is this more apparent locally than in the Southeastern region of the USA. In this study, we explored acceptance and rejection of evolution among pre-service science teachers in a teaching college in the rural Southeast and sought to determine (1) what relationships exist…

Evolution is fundamental to biology and scientific literacy, but teaching high school evolution is often difficult. Evolution teachers face several challenges including limited content knowledge, personal conflicts with evolution, expectations of resistance, concerns about students' conflicts with religion, and curricular constraints. Evolution…

One of the major causes of the problems affecting evolution education is a lack of acceptance of this concept, particularly by some people who have strongly entrenched religious beliefs. This paper reports on a section of a study which explored the influence of the beliefs of learners in some secondary schools from the Vhembe District in the…

Teachers often struggle with controversy when teaching biological evolution in American schools. Research indicates that curriculum with a nature of science (NOS) focus quells controversy (McComas 2004; Scharmann 2005; Staver 2003). This article presents a 5E NOS series that is a first step in a NOS curriculum that situates student understanding…

Biological evolution still lacks representation in school, especially below high school level. In order to find new implications that could help achieve significant improvement in teaching evolution, twelve expert interviews with both renowned researchers and experienced science teachers were conducted. Results of the comparison between the…

This article investigates the attitudes of South African student teachers towards the theory of evolution and their willingness to teach it. The teaching of evolution has been excluded from the South African school curriculum for most of the 20th century. In 2008, Grade 12 learners were for the first time exposed to the concept of evolution in the…

"Approaches and Strategies in Next Generation Science Learning" examines the challenges involved in the development of modern curriculum models, teaching strategies, and assessments in science education in order to prepare future students in the 21st century economies. This comprehensive collection of research brings together science educators,…

In December of 1978 the New York State Board of Regents ordered the New York State Education Department to conduct a detailed study of the way in which the subject of origins should be treated in a revised version of the Regents Biology Syllabus. The author was invited to supply scientific information to the Bureau of Science Education, which was…

Most articles on creationism focus on whether or not creationism should be included in science courses, on equal footing with evolutionary theory. However, positive influences that the debate can have on biology teaching should also be considered, this could lead to a deeper understanding of evolution and of science itself. (Author/JN)

Discusses the reaction of evolutionists to the creationist's efforts to pass legislation which would mandate the teaching of the biblical account of creation. (DS)

Presents a philosophical analysis of the creation/evolution conflict in which a deliberate attempt is made to highlight its wider curricular dimension. Argues that literature on the conflict focuses primarily on questions concerning nature of science and avoids discussing of equally pressing curricular/instructional issues, particularly…

The creation/evolution controversy can be best thought of as a contest over control of a portion of educational policy. Scientists do not dispute the right of fundamentalist Christians to believe that Genesis is a history and a science textbook. The difficulty arises when fundamentalists seek to bring their sectarian religious faith into biology…

Questions a hypothesis from creation science dealing with mammals. Claims that, when tested, the hypothesis fails in two ways. (TW)

Reviews issues and events related to adopting high school biology textbooks in Texas. Specific reference is given to the viewpoints of Mel and Norma Gabler. It is argued that factors controlling textbook content should not result from past market forces, but from a permanent science constituency and an informed public. (DH)